Two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene “spared” the Tampa Bay region a direct hit and yet storm surge still caused catastrophic damage, flooding homes, drowning people who decided to stay near the coast and leaving massive piles of debris that still sit along roadsides.

Hurricane Milton is likely to bring another huge storm surge to coastal areas of Florida that are still recovering from the 15ft (4.6m) wall of water piled up by Hurricane Helene at the end of September.

As Hurricane Milton intensified on its path toward Florida's Gulf Coast, the strength of the system increased the severity of the storm surge forecast.